Jeremy Bulloch, ‘Star Wars’ Original Boba Fett, Dead at 75

The original actor of Boba Fett, Jeremy Bulloch, has passed away at the age of 75. Bulloch made his debut into the Star Wars saga playing the man behind the bounty hunter’s armor in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

His death was first revealed by Daniel Logan, the actor who played the younger version of Boba Fett in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. “It brings me to tears to announce Jeremy Bulloch has past away,” he wrote underneath a photo of the two actors on a boat. “RIP Legend. I’ll never forget all you’ve taught me. I’ll love you forever. Conventions won’t be the same without you, may the force be with you always!” In a tweet from 2016, Mark Hamill, who starred as Luke Skywalker in the first trilogy, praised Bulloch in a tweet, calling him “one of the kindest gentleman I’ve ever met” despite playing what he called a “bad-ass bounty hunter.” That same year, Bulloch did an interview with Thrillist about his iconic role that was 36 years prior at the time. He recalled the growing popularity of the character over the years despite its limited appearances and even suggested that perhaps Fett wasn’t as dead as he appeared when his jetpack was shot by Han Solo, sending him to what appeared to be his ultimate death in a sarlacc’s mouth. “Boba will be alright,” Bulloch said at the time. “He’ll get out of this. If there’s a problem, he can get out… apparently he gets out of the sarlacc pit — I haven’t really kept up with the books.”

As Bulloch suggested, it turned out to be true that the comics translated onto the screen when Boba Fett ended up being revived. The stardom of Boba Fett intensified over the past few weeks as the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, introduced the character and intertwined his story into that of the main character’s, Din Djarin. In the streaming service’s adaptation, the most famous bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe is played by Temuera Morrison, who actually portrayed Jango Fett, the father of Boba, in Star Wars: Episode III – Attack of the Clones.

Prior to appearing The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, Bulloch had appeared in an assortment of films dating back to the late 1950s. Some of his notable work included The Spy Who Loved Me in 1970 along with some popular British television shows, Doctor Who and Robin of Sherwood.